Part XXIV

It was after school, but the halls were empty as she made her way toward the audio-visual room. Sliding open the door, she knew that Keiko and Michiru and Yukiko would be there telling ghost stories, clicking out their flashlights one by one. One—two—three—four—But when the last light went out, it was Keiko who whispered five in a strangled tone, the other girls erupting into shrieks of laughter.

Wait, Mai thought, head spinning. That's not what happens. Is it? Where's Naru?

Leaving her friends behind, she ran to the door and yanked it open, hoping he'd be there on the other side—

But the hallway was deserted. There wasn't another soul in sight.

A frantic feeling began to grow in her core and she broke into a run, her indoor shoes sliding on the slippery floor. Skidding around a corner, she recognised the empty shoe lockers of the abandoned school building. Heart thudding in her chest, she looked up and saw the shelves shaking and rocking where they stood.

Then she saw Lin. He had his back to her, setting up the camera, his attention focused solely on the task. He was directly beneath the shelf. She knew it was about to fall.

Look out— Mai hurled herself forward, but it felt like she was moving through jelly—no matter how much she struggled her body didn't seem to make the distance any shorter. How was he so far away? Lin-san!

Mai covered her face as she felt the weight of the falling shelves above her. The force of it pushed her down and she instinctively raised her hands to her face, arms curling around her head, trying to protect herself and brace for the coming impact.

And then she was falling through the floor, the shelf disappeared behind her as she plummeted through deep darkness. She could feel cobwebs brushing against her arms and the tips of her fingers and then her cheeks and she recoiled, squeezing her eyes closed as she tumbled into the depths. Wherever she was, no one had been here in a very long time—

And suddenly she was on her feet, standing on stable ground again. Opening her eyes, Mai started as she recognised her surroundings. She knew this place. It was the same London street as always. If she walked a hundred paces she'd be able to see Martin and Luella's house, but her legs were stuck where she stood, her feet glued to the wet pavement.

Mai's vision shifted again and she choked as she breathed in smoke and dust. Birds screamed above her head and she dropped to her knees, covering her ears to block the cacophonous sound, shielding her face from the beating wings and ripping talons surrounding her.

No! It was too much to bear and Mai rose to her feet, feathers fluttering to the ground as she pushed her way through the birds. Suddenly they too were gone and the street was quiet again—eerily still, the dust so thick it looked like a heavy fog. In the distance, Mai saw a figure hunched on the ground. She did not need to see him clearly to know it was the faceless man.

She gasped for breath as she sprinted toward him. It seemed like she'd been running forever. He was still there, too far away, too far for her to reach—

And then she was there, beside him, chest heaving. Shuddering as he turned. Knowing what she would see, not wanting to see, unable to look away.

Where the man should have had a face there was only darkness and she was falling again, pain searing across her vision as she crumpled before him.

Mai screamed.

"Mai!"

Mai opened her eyes, inhaling shakily. Eyes focusing, she met Gene's unblinking gaze. He was kneeling next to her, his hands gripping her shoulders.

"Did you see her?"

It took Mai a second to process the meaning behind his words. Her. That meant that he'd seen the spirit. "No." She pressed her eyes closed as she shook her head, a guilty feeling sinking into the pit of her stomach. "It wasn't the case," she whispered.

Gene visibly exhaled, his shoulders slumping and releasing his hands from their hold of her. "Then that dream again," he said, his face moving closer to hers as he looked into her eyes. It wasn't a question. "You're sure?"

"Yeah." Mai shuddered, raising her arms and crossing them over her head, covering her eyes. "Why, Gene," she managed, her voice sounding small, even to herself that she wondered if he could even hear her. "Why this dream again? Why not the case?"

Gene rocked back on his heels and averted his gaze, lips pursed and brows furrowed. He looked like he was about to say something, but remained silent.

It was only then that Mai noticed Yasuhara standing behind him, a few steps past the door. His blank expression was unnerving. "Your antenna, Mai?"

"Not this time." Mai pushed herself into a sitting position, raising her hands again to rub at her face.

"Was it the same as it always is?" Gene asked suddenly. "Or anything different of note?"

Mai dropped her hands, shaking her head. "No, it was different—" already the details were beginning to escape her, and she pressed her fingers into her eyes, trying to pull them back before they disappeared completely.

"It started differently than usual, I was at the abandoned school, the shelves were about to fall again—only it was Lin there," she mumbled, raising her voice and gathering momentum as she went. "I tried to run toward him, but when the shelves fell—instead of them falling on me like last time, the floor disappeared and I was falling through an endless tunnel. It was completely black and filled with cobwebs. But suddenly I was there in London again. The rest was… the same."

"Hmmm, a completely black tunnel?" Yasuhara asked, his voice close. Mai opened his eyes and saw that he'd crossed the room and was crouching down next to Gene, his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "That sounds like a uro passageway, doesn't it?"

"Uro?" Mai repeated.

"Yeah," Yasuhara mused. "Isn't there a type of yokai spirit that makes a direct path between dark spaces in completely different areas? I can't remember the details exactly, but they call it an uro passageway. Like a crack or a fissure. People go missing when they fall into them. Suddenly they're one place and then—" he snapped his fingers, "—they're gone, because they fell through an uro passageway. They're completely pitch black. Those who do fall in get lost inside. If you do find your way out, you end up somewhere completely different."

"Interesting," Gene mused, fingers tapping restlessly. "Uro, as in a hole, a hollow or a cavity."

Yasuhara shrugged. "I guess so."

Mai frowned, biting her lip. "Uro also means detour. The pitch accent is different, though."

Gene raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "You've never heard of this before?"

"No," Mai shook her head slowly, thinking. Japanese yokai folklore was Bou-san's specialty moreso than anyone else, but she couldn't remember this ever coming up in any of Naru's conversations with him. Had SPR ever encountered any cases of missing persons where this had been raised as a possibility? She didn't think so.

"Yasuhara, you've been holding out on us," Gene teased. "You didn't tell me you were into the occult! That makes you doubly qualified to be here."

Yasuhara laughed. "Hardly. Just an old folk tale I heard from my Grandma. It's been a long time, I don't know why I even remember that. I've probably got it all wrong."

"I doubt that, somehow." Gene nodded pensively. "I'll have to ask Noll, see if he's heard of it."

"So if Mai dreamed of falling through an uro, does that mean there's one here we need to be careful of?" Yasuhara asked.

"No," Mai shook her head. "The dream wasn't related to the case."

Yasuhara gave her a look over his glasses. "If that's so, then that's even more troubling."

"More… troubling?" Mai repeated.

"Your dreams are a premonition of the future, aren't they? What did you do in a past life to get such bad luck?" At past life Mai almost choked, but Yasuhara didn't notice as he sighed dramatically.

"It's not a premonition," she protested feebly, but an anxious feeling was growing in her stomach. Realising her hands were trembling, she clenched them into fists to still them.

"Maybe we should attach a GPS tracker to her person," Yasuhara said to Gene, who covered a laugh behind his hand.

"Not a bad idea, Yasuhara-san. You're taking this all in stride, aren't you?" Gene snickered.

"Ghosts, spirits, yokai—it's all on the same level." Yasuhara shrugged and grinned cheerfully. "Better to accept straightaway how weird you guys are."

"Okay, I'm getting up," Mai said, sitting up straight and pointing toward the door. "That means out. Must be breakfast time, right? I'll meet you downstairs in a minute."

"Right-o, Chief." Yasuhara rose to his feet, smiling and dipping his head as he moved toward the door. "Please excuse us."

Instead of following Yasuhara, Gene lingered in his crouched position in front of her. The light expression from moments before was gone from his face as he considered her seriously.

He suddenly leaned forward, voice low and spoken softly, so close that she could feel his breath on her ear. "Dream or no dream. You don't have to worry about slipping into an uro, Mai," he whispered. He gripped her arm gently, briefly, before dropping it again. He moved fluidly to his feet, meeting her gaze again. "Not while Noll or I'm around."

"And even if you did," he continued lightly, the firm smile on his lips quirking upwards in a grin. "We'd come find you."

Gene turned away, lifting his hand casually as he left with Yasuhara. "See you downstairs in a few." And closed the door behind him.

Mai released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and let herself slump forward, head dropping into her hands as she folded over herself.

Gene misunderstood. It wasn't that she was scared of getting lost in an uro. As scary as it'd been to fall into the dark nothingness, it was nothing compared to the raw terror she felt when she saw the faceless man. She was also certain the dream wasn't a premonition—not exactly. Whatever it was trying to tell her, it was more of a warning than a literal vision of something to come.

But what really scared her, and the part of the dream that always stuck with her after waking, was the fact that Naru was always missing. Thinking about that made her chest feel empty, her entire body numb. Somehow that was so much worse than her pounding heart.

I know it's a warning. But of what? What do I need to do? Does Naru's absence mean I need to do something by myself? Or does it… could it…?

Already details of the dream felt muddled and far away. The initial fright was gone, but she still felt uneasy and anxious. And guilty.

It didn't make any sense to feel that way, and yet she did. Guilt that maybe she wasn't completely focused on the case, guilt that maybe she didn't have the spiritual sensitivity that Gene was so quick to affirm she possessed, guilt that she couldn't control her dreams and couldn't dream something useful, something about their current situation. If Gene had seen the spirit, she could have at least dreamed something that would clue them in to why it was here, what it wanted—or needed—before it could move on.

And there was the guilt that she'd had to go ahead and dream another one of those dreams. That as much as she had tried to convince herself that it meant nothing—had tried to convince Naru and Gene it meant nothing—it just kept coming back. Not that either of them believed her. That much was obvious. She'd been stubborn, thinking that if she insisted there was nothing to it other than stress over her exams, then maybe it would be true. All the while knowing she wasn't fooling anyone, not herself and certainly not them either.

Straightening, Mai crawled out from under the futon and reached for her phone, pulling it out of the charging cord. Holding the phone in both hands, she gazed at it before dropping her hands and her head.

She was being ridiculous. What would she say to him now? Not to mention the fact it was the middle of the night in England.

Mai let out a long exhale, straightening her back and shifting into a seated position with her legs folded underneath her. Lin had wanted her to meditate and she needed to compose herself before she went downstairs and met the others for breakfast.

Closing her eyes, Mai focused on her breathing, slowing herself down. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four… She counted her breaths in her mind. It was calming to settle into the rhythm—comforting, almost. She could just imagine Lin sitting across from her, straight-backed as always as he coached her.

We're here at the Kanegae household in Etajima, she reminded herself when her thoughts threatened to wander. This is the priority. Inhale, two, three, four—exhale, two, three, four…

Mai could feel the tension release from her body as her thoughts stilled, focused solely on the slight movement of her body as her lungs expanded and contracted.

Etajima, she reminded herself again.

Mai opened her eyes.

"Okay, Mai, let's go." She said aloud, rising to her feet.

...

"What was that?" Yasuhara asked, following Gene down the stairs.

"What do you mean, what was that?" Gene gave the other boy a look, turning over his shoulder. "Mai said she had a dream."

"No, not that." Yasuhara shook his head. "I didn't realise you were a psychic mind reader, too. The way you knew she was having a nightmare like that."

Gene averted his gaze as they turned down the hallway toward the dining area. "Just a lucky guess."

"Right. That must be it," Yasuhara agreed easily. "No wonder, you two are like peas in a pod. But more importantly, first you tell me she has clairvoyant dreams, and then you're not worried that she's had a nightmare?" He frowned. "I mean… it definitely means something, right?"

Gene paused, opening his mouth but no words coming out. They were close enough to the dining room now that he could hear voices: the familiar light timbre of John speaking, and another voice that did not belong to Lin and he assumed must be Yuuto.

"I don't really know," Gene finally admitted. "If it does, I don't know what it means."

"As long as she really doesn't disappear into an uro." Yasuhara's lips twitched in a grin. "Remember that GPS tracker, okay? Might not be a bad idea. Although," he paused, as if the thought had just come to him. "If an uro even exists, would a GPS signal even work…?"

"That's a good question," Gene said wryly. "With Mai's luck, it probably wouldn't."

Yasuhara suddenly stopped in his tracks, a stricken look of realisation on his face. "I'm sorry, did I have it wrong before—"

Gene turned to him, caught off-guard and genuinely confused. "Wrong about what?"

Yasuhara looked uncomfortable. "I just assumed Taniyama-san was together with Shibuya-san. Your brother. But was I wrong, are you two…?"

Gene shook his head, turning away. "No. You weren't wrong."

"Oh." Yasuhara looked somewhat relieved, but a conflicted expression remained on his face as they resumed their way down the hall. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" Gene asked, unsure what the other boy was apologising for.

Yasuhara didn't reply and they reached the end of the hall. Sliding the door open, the two could see Lin, John, and Yuuto were seated at the table. Kimiko was bustling about, setting down breakfast plates and bowls for the three remaining place settings. Makiko, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning everyone," Yasuhara greeted them brightly. "I hope you had a pleasant rest?"

Gene snorted as he took his seat, knowing Yasuhara knew full well that Lin and John had been awake since the middle of the night.

"Good morning," John said cheerfully, Lin and Yuuto repeating the greeting.

"Both Makiko and Shibuya-san heard the dogs barking this morning," Yuuto remarked, his tone apologetic. "Did it wake you?"

"Nope! Slept straight through it," Yasuhara smiled. Taking his seat, he his thanks at Kimiko as she passed him a steaming bowl of rice. "Thank you very much."

"Tea, dear?"

"Please, and thank you."

"Mai will be down in a moment," Gene said, picking up his chopsticks. A traditional Japanese breakfast was set out before them, with pickled vegetables, steaming miso soup, natto and egg, and—of course—mikan citrus fruits.

"Good. Once Mai's up we should discuss a plan of action for the day." Lin said, and nodded to John. "You're free to rest after breakfast and catch up on lost sleep, John, if you would like."

"I'll take you up on that, much obliged," John smiled cheerfully.

"We should all try to get some extra rest during the day," Gene said, pausing between sips of the soup. "It's unlikely the spirit will show itself during the day, so we may be in for an active night tonight."

"Lin-san said that you saw the spirit in the orchard…?" Yuuto began tentatively.

"That's right. Only a glimpse, but I saw it," Gene said, setting down his soup and picking up his rice bowl. "I'm optimistic we'll have further sightings, after the sun goes down today. Further to that," he nodded toward Lin. "We'll need to set up more cameras outdoors if we can. Perhaps on our tour of the orchard this morning we can find some sheltered areas where we can cover the cameras and they won't get wet if it rains."

"Will your equipment be alright to be outside?" Yuuto asked uncertainly. "It's quite a storm coming through."

"We'll manage something," Lin said. "If we need to, we might position the cameras in the upstairs windows, facing the orchard."

Gene turned as the door slid open behind him, and Mai entered the room, smiling brightly. "Morning everyone!" She slid into her seat next to him. "Thank you so much for breakfast! Looks delicious." She pressed her hands together and then turned to Gene and Lin, straight to business even before she'd picked up her chopsticks. "What's the plan for today?"

"We'll need to see if we can move the cameras to get a better visual of the orchard, but only if we can keep them covered and protected from the rain." Gene frowned, an irritated twitch at his temple. It would be much easier if they could scrap Noll's methods of data collection and he just went out to find the spirit again. Not that Noll was here to make things go his way—but knowing Lin, he wouldn't go along with that plan either. Any data collected would likely be worthless if they did resort to placing the cameras inside, but he didn't want to say so in front of their clients.

"Yuuto-san, you mentioned taking us around the orchard…?" Lin said, interrupting Gene's train of thought.

Yuuto nodded. "Yes, we can go out after breakfast if you like. The rain isn't supposed to hit until afternoon."

"And there was that American backpacker," Yasuhara reminded Gene.

"Right," Gene said, looking up and turning his gaze back to Yuuto.

"We've got it here." Yuuto reached over and picked up a sheet of paper. "Michael Hodes. Makiko made a copy of his information out of the guest register this morning. He was here during the harvest."

"When was that?"

"It was late this year—January."

Lin frowned. "That's nearly three months ago. If he was on a visitor visa, he may no longer be in the country. We should try calling him this morning, that way we can try throughout the day if we have trouble reaching him."

"Can I see?" Mai asked, and Yuuto nodded, passing the paper across the table. "It's a Japanese mobile number," she said, sipping her cup of tea as she looked over the page. "It's unusual for backpackers to have a mobile here, isn't it?"

"Could be a contact for a friend, instead, then."

"There's an email address, as well. We can always try that, asking if we can call him if he's gone overseas."

"Michael-san, he was a nice boy," Kimiko said, as she began clearing the empty plates and bowls from their breakfast.

"Do you remember why he was here?" Gene asked.

Kimiko thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't recall. You should ask Makiko, she has a better memory for these things."

"Where is Makiko-san this morning?" Mai asked.

"She'll just be out feeding the dogs. I'm sure she'll be back in shortly if you want to ask her."

"Please don't let us disrupt your day," Lin said to Yuuto and Kimiko. "We may have additional questions, and we appreciate you taking the time to show us around the orchard, but otherwise please continue about your day as usual."

"Thank you," Yuuto said, genuinely grateful. "I've got last week's prunings to pick up, it'd be good to get it done before the rain."

"Thank you for breakfast. Kimiko-san, I'll help you clean up," Mai said, hopping to her feet and picking up plates and bowls.

Kimiko began to protest but faltered at Mai's bright smile. "Very well," she agreed, and Mai followed her into the kitchen. Gene let his eyes follow her as she went, tempted to let his mind follow so he could listen to their conversation. Kimiko seemed much more relaxed this morning than she had the day before, and he was curious what she might reveal to them.

Turning his attention back to the table, Gene glanced at Yuuto out of the corner of his eye. He'd turned on the television in the corner of the room and put on the local news station, a weather report on the screen showing an animated hour-by-hour forecast with nothing but clouds and rain for the rest of the day. Yasuhara and John were making conversation about the storm, asking Yuuto what was typical for the area, but Gene wasn't really listening.

It was unsettling to think Yuuto might be lying or purposefully keeping information from them, and contrary to the first impression Gene had of the soft-spoken man. Apart from those specific incidents, everything Yuuto had said and done had made Gene think the man was trustworthy, without a doubt. And yet—and yet. The overheard conversation. Neglecting to mention his father. And the reticence to consider a grudge.

There's something there, Gene thought. The question is—what? He frowned, drinking the last of his tea in one gulp, and wished Noll was with them. Noll was much better at asking difficult questions. He had no problem being direct and asking the ones that nobody wanted to answer.

Before he could take that thought any further, Mai returned to the room, face blanching when she saw the weather report. "You weren't joking about the rain. How are we going to use any equipment in the orchard?"

"I hope you brought an umbrella," Yasuhara grinned.

"We'll manage something." Lin rose to his feet and the rest followed suit. "Let's get going so we have time to put up the rest of the cameras before the storm hits."

They returned to base for a quick re-group. Lin first checked the computers, shaking his head as Gene gave him a questioning look. "I'll have a closer look when you go out in the orchard with Yuuto, but it doesn't look like there's anything from during breakfast."

"I wouldn't expect there to be." Gene nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "The sun is up and the spirit has already made its appearance this morning. We're not going to see anything until the sun starts going down."

Lin smiled wryly. "I'll double check just in case. While you're walking around the orchard with Yuuto, if I could ask you to keep an eye out for any areas close to the house or sheds that we might be able to put a tarp over a camera or two? I'll take a look at the equipment and see what our options are."

"Will do." Gene gave him a thumbs up. "Leave it to us."

"Anything in particular we should keep an eye out for while on this tour?" Yasuhara asked.

Gene pursed his lips. "I'd say anything out of the ordinary, but to be honest I don't really know what that means in this context."

"It's mostly to get an understanding of where the spirit has been sighted and what kind of factors could be influencing that," Lin said.

"Right." Gene nodded again. "But make sure you talk to Kimiko. That's our first priority," he reminded him.

Lin nodded. "Of course."

"Great. Let's go."

Gene, Mai and Yasuhara left the base and went to the entryway, where Yuuto was pulling on a pair of work boots and a heavy jacket. Outside, the dogs were waiting for them with wagging tails and lolling tongues, following the group as they stepped outside.

Gene could see that the sky had completely clouded over in the short time since he'd gone outside when he first heard the dogs barking that morning. "To think the sun was shining this morning," he said sourly.

"Even if we put a tarp over a camera, if it's raining will the feed be any good for anything?" Mai said dubiously. "Ghosts are usually hard enough to capture, but through the rain…?"

"And deny my brother the opportunity to collect data?" Gene shook his head.

"You're certainly welcome to use any tarps and ropes we have in the shed," Yuuto offered. "If that's of any help."

"Thank you, that's much appreciated." They followed the road and then cut into the orchard, just as Gene had done earlier. When they passed the cairn he'd made, he stopped. "Here," he said, pointing in the direction of the stones. "I was standing here when I saw it this morning. In the trees over there."

"It's the same," Yuuto nodded, looking both apprehensive and relieved. "Always in this area, sometimes further, sometimes closer."

"You can just see the house from here," Mai observed, and the four spread out as they walked through the trees, the dogs trotting alongside them.

Mai turned to Gene with a pointed look, an eyebrow raised dubiously. "Wandering around the orchard by yourself first thing in the morning?" She said, low enough that the others wouldn't hear her. "What happened to working in pairs?"

"Well," Gene started, realising he didn't have a good explanation for his actions. "It seemed like the thing to do," he finally said lamely.

Mai gave a huff and looked displeased, but then Yasuhara called out, interrupting them before she could say anything further.

"Hey, Boss—take a look at this." A few paces in front of him, Yasuhara was bent over, picking something up from the ground. Brushing it off first, he held the small object between his thumb and forefinger toward them.

"A ring?" Mai asked, coming closer, and Gene could see the dull sheen of dirty metal. It was a simple band, unadorned and unengraved. "Wow, good spotting. How did you see that?"

"It must have caught the light," Yasuhara said. Using the bottom of his t-shirt, he wiped it clean of dirt before handing it to Mai, dropping it into her open palm. "It looks like gold, doesn't it?"

"Yuuto-san," Gene called, gesturing the other man to come toward them. "Has anyone in your family misplaced a ring?"

Mai passed the ring to their client who held it in his palm, a baffled look on his face as he inspected it. "I've never seen this before," Yuuto admitted. "I'll have to ask Makiko or Mother, but I don't think it would belong to our family."

"Would any of your boarders have dropped it?" Gene asked.

"It's entirely possible, but no one ever told us they lost a ring," Yuuto said, perplexed.

Gene folded his arms across his chest as he thought, a gnawing feeling in his chest. Mai was giving him an expectant, questioning look, but he purposefully avoided her gaze.

It would be convenient, a little too easy, if the spirit was tethered to the ring. But he felt absolutely no spiritual presence, nothing from the object itself and nothing skirting around them if she were. If only Noll was here, he couldn't help but think bitterly. "We'll ask when we get back to the house," he finally said.

"Of course," Yuuto nodded and gestured forward. "There's not much more to see of the orchard, but I'll take you just a little further, around the back of the sheds. Some of the boarders said they saw it back there, although I never have."

Gene nodded, smiling tightly. "Lead the way."

...

Mai followed the others as Yuuto took them toward the storage sheds, only partially paying attention as Yuuto slid open the heavy doors, explaining to Gene and Yasuhara the equipment kept inside and where they might find the tarps and ropes, should they wish to borrow them. Instead, she looked at the eaves of the roof, wondering if they could possibly put a camera underneath and if their equipment could be protected from the elements even with a tarp secured above it. And did Lin seriously think he could run a lead from the house all the way over here? It was just too far.

There's no way Lin and Gene can think that we can put cameras out here, right? She thought to herself, biting her lower lip as she looked at the sheltered area under the roof and crossing the building to look around the other side. The cameras might be insured, but they're basically asking for them to get damaged if they do. What would Naru do?

"And the boarders saw the spirit back here?" Gene asked Yuuto, and Mai followed the two as they walked behind the shed, Yasuhara close behind her.

"Supposedly."

Gene looked around, nodding to himself. "Ever inside the shed?"

Yuuto looked uncertain. "I assumed only outside, but I didn't ask."

Gene nodded again and the four walked back toward the front of the building. Yuuto had gone inside and they could hear the sound of an engine as he started up one of the tractors. Gene turned his gaze to meet hers. "What do you think about setting up equipment out here?"

"Honestly?" Mai fidgeted, shifting on her feet. "I don't really know. It seems risky to try to put a camera outside. But Lin-san is the expert, so if he thinks we can get the equipment to work out here…"

"I'm inclined to agree," Gene said, looking up at the roof. "The eaves are short so we'd be relying entirely on the tarp. Add a bit of wind and we might as well be attaching the cameras to a sail."

"The forecast did say it was going to be gusty," Yasuhara added.

"And hard enough to keep the lenses dry, in which case we wouldn't capture anything anyway," Mai added.

Gene nodded, his face settling into a frown as he mulled it over. "Well, we may need to see about putting cameras in the upstairs windows at the house. It's not ideal but it might be our only option." He tipped his head forward. "Let's go back to the house and see what Lin has to say."

"I'll come with you," Yuuto said. During their conversation he'd moved the tractor outside the shed and parked it in front, shutting off the engine again. "I'd like to hear what Mother and Makiko have to say about the ring."

...

Returning to the house, they found Makiko sitting on the edge of the veranda, lacing up her shoes. "Morning, Makiko-san," Mai greeted cheerfully, and the other woman returned the greeting with a polite smile.

"Are you going out?" Yuuto asked.

Makiko nodded. "Just to town for some shopping."

"Hold on a minute and come inside. Is Mother still in the kitchen?"

"She was a minute ago. What's happened?"

"I've got something to show you," was all Yuuto said, taking off his shoes and heading into the house. Makiko gave them a questioning look but didn't say anything as she bent down to unlace her shoes.

"Makiko-san, I was wondering if we could ask you about Michael, the American backpacker?" Mai said, toeing off her own shoes and following the others inside the house. "Do you remember anything about him? Why he was in Japan, or why he came here in particular?"

"Um, yes." Makiko hesitated, glancing forward toward her brother, but he didn't indicate that he was even listening. "He had just finished at his university and was travelling before graduation. I think he came to Japan to visit friends or family, although I don't remember exactly which. He was interested in the citrus cultivation. It was related to his degree, I think."

"I see," Mai nodded. "And what about when he left…? Did he give any explanation for leaving so suddenly?"

"No, I don't… I don't believe he did." Makiko frowned. "I always assumed it was because he got scared when he heard about the spirit, but that was something the other boarders said."

"You didn't ask him?" Gene asked.

She shook her head. "We didn't press him about it. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, you probably weren't expecting someone to ask about it later." Mai tried to smile reassuringly. "Hopefully we'll find out more when we call him today."

Kimiko was in the main room of the house and looked up as they entered. "What's happened?" She asked, glancing between them, her eyes shifting between her children. "Makiko, you were going to go to town?"

"I asked her to come back inside to see this. Yasuhara-san and Shibuya-san found a ring in the orchard," Yuuto said. As he spoke, he held out his hand, palm flat, the ring resting in the middle of his palm. "Have you seen this before?"

Kimiko picked it up, looking at it carefully before shaking her head. "No, never." She passed it to her daughter. "Any of the boarders report losing a ring?"

"No, never." Makiko repeated. As she examined the ring, an uneasy look crossed her face and she looked as if she might be ill. "It couldn't have been Father…?" she whispered, glancing nervously between her mother and brother. "Could he have…?"

"What?" Kimiko said sharply. "Stolen it?" At that, Makiko looked as though she really would be sick. Mai could see she was trembling.

"No," Yuuto said, placing his hand reassuringly on his sister's shoulder and taking the ring from her. "There's no way it could have been in the orchard for ten years. It would have been trampled into the soil, completely buried after all this time."

"I agree," Gene said, exchanging glances with Mai, and she nodded vehemently.

"Surely it's been dropped recently," Yasuhara agreed. "I wouldn't have seen it otherwise."

The air in the room was tense. Makiko had averted her gaze, Yuuto was staring down his mother and Kimiko's eyes had narrowed as she regarded her children.

"No," Kimiko suddenly said, her tone light and matter-of-fact. "You're would be right. It wouldn't have been in the orchard for ten years. Not to mention if someone in the village had something valuable stolen, we would have heard about it. Hiro has nothing to do with it."

"You have to admit, though, it seems odd that none of the boarders would report losing it," Yuuto said.

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Maybe they didn't realise they lost it here?" Kimiko waved her hand, clearly not bothered by the situation.

Yuuto frowned. "And we'll have to start contacting them, to see if we can figure out who it was—"

"Why?" Kimiko asked bluntly, and Yuuto sputtered.

"Because it could be valuable—"

Kimiko shook her head. "We have no reason to believe that a boarder dropped it."

"But who else could it be? If not one of us or—" Yuuto's voice broke off suddenly, and he glanced nervously at his sister. Makiko was still standing with her face turned away, her hands clenched at her sides. Seeing that her body was shaking, Mai felt a surge of empathy for the young woman.

Kimiko gave her son a level look, and then turned to her daughter. "Makiko, you'd better get going if you want to catch the time sale at the supermarket."

"Yes. I'll be on my way." Makiko seemed to snap to attention and left the room before anyone had a chance to say anything more.

Just as his sister, Yuuto seemed to shake himself into motion as well. "Right. I need to get some work done in the orchard before the rain."

"And we need to head back to base and check in with Lin about the cameras, if you'll excuse us." Gene said, giving Mai a meaningful glance. "Thank you for letting us know about the ring. If you do happen to learn anything of who it might have belonged to, we'd be very interested to know."

Gene didn't speak until they'd reached the base, the door shut behind them. "Well, that was interesting," he said under his breath.

Lin was alone in the room, looking over their equipment and a notebook open in front of him with a half-filled page of writing.

"Welcome back," he greeted. "Was it a productive tour of the orchard?"

"You could say that," Gene said wryly, and relayed the finding of the ring and the reactions of their clients. "I'll be very interested to hear now what Kimiko said about the departed father."

Lin picked up his notebook, glancing over the page. "The late Kanegae Hiro. Aged 57 years old, he passed away 23 November 1991 in a vehicle accident."

"Just over ten years ago, then," Yasuhara mused aloud.

Lin nodded. "Kimiko stated that he'd been in poor health. While she didn't state it outright, I had the impression that their relationship was not good at the time of his death. She mentioned he was a heavy drinker, that on the day of his death they hadn't even suspected anything was amiss because there were times he would return home late or not at all when he was drinking in town."

"And it wasn't much of a surprise, either?" Mai wondered aloud.

Lin nodded again. "That's right. Kimiko said the very same, something along the lines that she 'wasn't surprised to hear he'd gone and gotten himself killed'," he quoted.

"So the timing lines up, it was definitely the father that Yuuto and Makiko were talking about in the kitchen," Gene said, frowning.

"And they think the father's ghost is the one haunting the orchard," Yasuhara said.

"But why so cagey about it?" Gene wondered, running his hands over his face and squeezing his eyes shut. "If you think about it, wouldn't it make more sense to tell us who they think is haunting them so we can get to the bottom of it?"

"But Kimiko clearly doesn't think the spirit's the father," Mai pointed out. "It could just be that Yuuto doesn't want to say anything to upset her, so he doesn't bring it up."

Gene shook his head. "He had plenty of time to tell us when we first interviewed him. He could have told us not to bring it up while we were here."

"And why would they think he bears a grudge?" Lin asked.

"Well, they didn't get along," Mai said. "Isn't it obvious? He's not on the family altar. And Makiko was shaking." She bit her lip. "More than that. She was terrified. She must've been afraid of him in life to be this scared of the thought of his spirit coming back for them."

"But… the spirit's not the father, right?" Yasuhara finally spoke. "Gene, you said you saw a woman."

"It was definitely not the father." Gene said. He folded his arms together and looked between them. "But don't tell them that yet."

"Gene," Mai protested, but he shook his head.

"I need to talk to Yuuto first." Gene turned back to Lin. "Was there anything else?"

Lin shook his head. "Nothing of importance. She wasn't reluctant to tell me of her late husband, but at the same time she had very little to say."

"She wants to forget," Mai realised.

"I had that impression, yes," Lin agreed.

Gene nodded again, then pushed himself to his feet. "Right. We need to call Michael. Mai, you have his number?"

"Right here," Mai said, pulling out the piece of paper from her pocket, unfolding it.

"Great." Gene retrieved his mobile from his pocket and held it out for her to take. "I'll let you call, if you don't mind."

"Me? Sure, okay," Mai took the phone from him, dialling and waiting for the line to pick up. The call connected after two rings, her heart skipping in her chest.

"Hello, this is Arimoto." A man's voice answered the line.

"Hello—good morning, my name is Taniyama, and I'm trying to reach Michael Hodes-san…?"

"Can I ask what this is regarding?"

"I'm at the Kanegae household in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture. Michael-san stayed here for some time in January. He left this number as his primary contact number."

"Ah, right." The voice of Arimoto paused, and Mai could almost hear him thinking. "Unfortunately, Michael's not around anymore. He went back to the States a few weeks ago."

"I see." Mai met Gene's gaze, shaking her head.

"Etajima… Is that the mikan orchard?" Arimoto ventured.

"That's right."

"Why do you need to get in contact with Michael? Did he leave something there, or something?"

"No, not exactly," Mai paused, wondering how much to divulge to this stranger. Raising her gaze, she saw Gene and Yasuhara watching her expectantly, and she plunged ahead. "Actually, we're here at the orchard at Kanegae's request to investigate some strange occurrences. The Kanegae family thought that Michael might have experienced something here that would help us get to the bottom of it."

"Strange occurrences?" Arimoto repeated, and barked out a laugh. "You mean the ghost?"

At first Mai was shocked and didn't know what to say. "Michael told you about it, then?" She asked, hopeful.

"Well…" Arimoto paused, and Mai had the impression he was weighing whether or not to tell her, but then just like her, for whatever reason, decided to continue. "He said that the others kept saying they saw a spirit or something in the trees, at night. He thought they were pranking him, that they were just trying to scare him as the new guy, and an American at that. But then he felt icy hands close around his neck, like someone was trying to choke him. Whenever he was by himself. But there was never anyone there."

"I see." Gene had passed her a blank sheet of paper and Mai had scribbled the notes down quickly as he spoke. "Are you still in contact with him? We'd be very interested to speak to Michael about this, if he'd be agreeable for us to call him."

"Yeah, I can pass along a message. Do you speak English? His Japanese isn't great if you really want to hear what happened."

"Yes, if he'll talk to us it can be in English."

"Good. I'll pass along the message."

"Thank you. Actually, can I ask one other question? Did Michael ever mention losing anything while he was here? A piece of jewellery, a ring…?"

"A ring? No, not that he ever said to me."

"I see. Thanks again for your time." The call disconnected and Mai lowered the phone, meeting Gene's gaze as he took it back from her.

"What's the verdict?" Gene prompted.

"Okay," Mai took a deep breath. "I didn't speak with him, but Michael definitely left because of the ghost. He felt it choking him. We'll have to talk to him to find out exactly, but he at least relayed that much to this Arimoto guy who answered the phone."

Gene rubbed his forehead with his hand. "And he didn't tell our hosts?"

"Was it the language barrier, maybe?" Yasuhara asked.

"Or is this another thing they're keeping from us?" Gene muttered.

Lin cleared his throat and shook his head. "It's entirely possible he was not comfortable admitting his experience to the Kanegae family."

"That could be true," Gene met Mai's gaze hopefully. "Did he say where…?"

Mai shook her head. "No, he didn't say."

"And any indication of when…?" Lin asked, and Mai shook her head again.

"No. Arimoto just said he would pass along the message."

"We'll just have to wait, then." Lin said. "Our next order of business is to finish setting up the cameras before the rain."

"Right. Cameras." Gene frowned. "We're going to have to scrap the idea of putting more cameras outside. Other than the veranda on the front of the house, there isn't anywhere where we can protect them from this coming storm. We can do the upstairs windows—"

"No," Mai interrupted, an uneasy feeling spreading from her core. "It's only second-hand, and we don't know where Michael said he felt it choking him, but Makiko-san also thinks the spirit is inside the house, right? And that it pushed Kimiko-san down the stairs. We have to put the rest of the cameras inside the house."

Lin said nothing, giving her a curious look, but Gene looked dubious. "No one has seen it inside the house, and they haven't reported any poltergeisting—" he protested.

"I know that, but," Mai said, her voice trailing off and she shook her head.

"You're sure?" Lin asked, and Mai nodded.

"We have to be cautious, right? It's what Naru would do."

Lin nodded, glancing at Gene. "You're right. We should put the cameras inside." Reaching for his laptop, he opened a file on the screen, showing a rough blue print of the house.

"You had a floor plan prepared? Of course you did," Gene grinned, and Lin smiled wryly.

"If we allocate one more camera to the front veranda, ensuring we have full view of the orchard from the house, that leaves us with six remaining cameras," Lin began. "If I may suggest. Front hallway, kitchen, dining room, another for the main room, and that leaves two for the stairwell and upstairs hallway."

Yasuhara elbowed Mai gently. "This is your antenna again, isn't it?"

Mai felt her face flush and ignored him, looking instead between Gene and Lin. "The stairwell and hallway will give us the visibility we need. You mentioned to them that this might be a possibility, right? Having cameras inside the house?"

"Yuuto should be aware that this is normal operations," Lin said. "Although he may not have communicated that to his mother and sister."

"Right," Gene said grimly, "Then that's what we're about to find out."

...

Gene had been nervous that Kimiko would be opposed to them putting cameras inside the house, but as it turned out, Yuuto had told his family about this possibility—or at least Kimiko was unfazed by the request when asked. "Do what you need to do," was all she said, waving her hand and returning to what she was doing.

Gene and Yasuhara had just finished setting up the cameras in the upstairs hallway and the stairwell when the door to the room John and Lin were staying in slid open. The blonde priest appeared, a bright smile on his face.

"Morning again," he said cheerfully. "Or should I say good day?"

"You look rested," Gene grinned. "Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Have a good sleep?"

"Very much so, thank you." John smiled amiably, looking over at the camera leads they were running down side of the hallway. "You're setting the rest of the cameras up?"

"Yes. A bit of a change of plans." Gene cocked his head, vaguely gesturing down the stairs. "Lin and Mai are setting up the rest of the cameras downstairs. Another for the veranda, and a few for the downstairs rooms."

"Does this mean it's true Kimiko was pushed down the stairs by the spirit…?" John began hesitantly.

Gene frowned, tipping his head from side to side. "Not… exactly," he began. "Due to the coming storm, we won't be able to surveil the orchard the way we'd originally planned. And it makes more sense to put the cameras indoors, since we have second-hand information that the spirit has been inside—from Makiko, and aggressive—from the backpacker's friend."

"You spoke to the American backpacker?" John asked.

Gene shook his head. "No, the number belonged to a friend of his. Michael's already gone back to America, apparently. But the friend said he'd reported icy hands around his neck."

John frowned, his cheerful demeanour from before now gone. "I see."

"And don't forget the ring we found in the orchard," Yasuhara added. "All sorts of things have happened this morning while you were having a rest."

"Right, there's all that too." Gene rose to his feet. "We've just finished here, let's head back to base and we'll fill you in on the rest."

When Gene returned to the base with John and Yasuhara in tow, Mai and Lin were checking the feeds of the cameras they'd set up.

"Finished upstairs?" Lin asked.

"Done and dusted," Gene nodded. "What about downstairs?"

"The camera on the veranda and the main room are set up," Lin said.

"We just have the kitchen and dining room left," Mai said, flopping back into a chair and covering her face with her hands. "Only half done, but ugh, I'm exhausted."

"No wonder, you were up half the night," Yasuhara said sympathetically.

"You should take a nap this afternoon," Lin suggested.

"And hungry," Mai said, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "I can't tell if I want to eat lunch or just go to sleep."

Gene checked his watch. "It's already midday. I'm sure lunch will be served soon, but I'll go see if Kimiko can give you a snack to tie you over," he teased.

"Remember, you owe me a pudding," Mai mumbled, and Gene laughed. He could see her eyes were closed, even though hidden behind her hands.

Leaving the base, Gene trotted down the hallway toward the kitchen. He slowed in his tracks, hearing the muffled sound of voices in the other room. This time, he let his curiosity get the better of him and let his consciousness detach from his body, drifting to the door so he could hear them clearly.

"You need to get it together," Kimiko said sharply. "And telling them I fell down the stairs? It's none of their business and has nothing to do with all this."

"But Mother—" Makiko protested weakly. Evidently she'd returned from her errands in town, although Gene hadn't heard her return.

"I'm an clumsy old woman," Kimiko said firmly. "And a very lucky one in that I only had a minor sprain from the ordeal."

"Makiko's may be right," Yuuto began. "Shouldn't we at least consider, isn't it possible—"

"Possible?" Kimiko scoffed. "Don't encourage her, Yuuto. That man's death had nothing to do with it. The world is a better place without him, I don't need you two bringing back his memory."

"But Mother," Makiko burst out. Gene could see her, with his mind's eye, and knew she was holding back tears. "Why else would there be a ghost here if not Father, coming back to haunt us?"

"Hmpf!" Kimiko let out a derisive sound. "Didn't he torment us enough when he was alive? If he really wanted to haunt us, he's doing a poor job of it. Just like everything else he did in this world," she muttered.

"And besides," Kimiko turned her pointed gaze on her son. "Isn't that what you've brought them here for? Even if it were to be him, these people said they would get rid of it."

"But…" Yuuto hesitated, but Kimiko shook her head, cutting him off.

"I'm not concerned with the why or the how, Yuuto. If they can get the dogs to stop barking and we don't have to worry about our boarders getting scared off, I'll be happy. Hiro can rot in hell. I never want to think about him again."

Gene frowned and let his mind return to his body, tapping his fingers absently against his chin. Shaking himself, he resumed his steps and slid open the door.

"Hi there," he said brightly, inflecting cheer into his voice. "I know it's almost lunch time, but I don't suppose I could raid the fridge for a snack? Mai's about to fall over, low blood sugar or something like that."

"Lunch will be ready in ten minutes, but help yourself," Kimiko waved at the refrigerator absently. If she was perturbed by the heated conversation with her children, she hid it exceptionally well.

"You wouldn't happen to have any pudding?"

"Pudding?" Makiko said nervously. "No, but I can pick some up the next time I go out…?"

"That's alright, a mikan will do." Gene grinned and took the fruit.

"Here, take enough for everyone," Kimiko said, passing him a basket.

"Great, thanks." Gene said with a smile. "I'll let the others know that lunch is nearly ready."

Returning down the hallway again, Gene felt a certain sense of vindication to have confirmed that this was indeed the missing piece—the deceased father was the reason Yuuto and Makiko were acting strangely. Makiko certainly believed it was her father who was haunting the property, and Yuuto was at least open to the possibility. Kimiko was obviously firmly against the idea, and it was because of this that Yuuto hadn't raised the topic with SPR.

Gene frowned. The thing was, it certainly wasn't the spirit ofKanegae Hiro—unless the man had such a strong penchant for cosplaying as a mid-20th century European woman. No, it was definitely a different spirit. And yet, he had a feeling there was something about the father that was important.

Could it be that the spirit was somehow indirectly related to the father, or his death? That the spirit was only here because of him?

Gene shook his head to himself. It wasn't impossible, of course, but it was far-fetched. Why now, as Mai overheard Makiko say, after ten years? Why should a spirit—if it was somehow connected to their father's death—show up now?

Gene sighed. He would have to ask Yuuto about his father, sooner rather than later, get some straight answers out of him and get to the bottom of it. Either that, or wait until he could see the spirit again—and try to talk to her.

...

Mai noticed the change in Gene's demeanour immediately when returned from the kitchen with a basket of mikans. Whereas before he'd been talkative, now his mouth was set in a thin line, his eyes slightly narrowed and his gaze faraway. His entire body seemed tense and he clearly had something on his mind. In short, he looked far too much like Naru. She gave him a questioning look when he passed her the fruit, but he shook his head and simply mouthed the word 'Later.'

"Lunch'll be soon, but Kimiko gave us these to tie us over." Gene said, and both Yasuhara and John took a piece of fruit from the basket, passing it around the room before setting it down on a side table.

Gene took a mikan as well but made no move to peel or eat it. Mai watched him as she ate her own piece of fruit, but he remained quiet and listless until Yuuto came and knocked on the door, letting them know that lunch was served.

Lunch was an entirely uneventful affair. Lin updated the family on their progress and that they would set up the final two cameras after lunch in the kitchen and dining area. Yuuto asked polite questions about what they were doing and if there was anything he could do to help, but Lin assured him they had everything to hand. After that, the conversation of the Kanegae family drifted to the work done and to be done in the orchard or around the property in anticipation of the coming storm. As at breakfast, the television in the corner of the room was on, the weather forecast and coverage of the coming storm monopolising the local station's news.

"Looks like we've got about half an hour before the rain starts," Yuuto said, hurriedly eating the rest of his meal and rising to his feet. "Let's go, Makiko."

The brother and sister excused themselves and left the table, the others still finishing their meals.

"Do you see that?" Yasuhara frowned, pointing to the television which showed a woman gesturing toward a map, a line of large scrolling text below her in red and white. "There are flooding and landslides warnings just being issued. Good call on not putting the cameras outside."

"The warnings are for the mainland," Kimiko said, reading the text. "It'll still be quite a storm, but the worst of it won't hit Etajima."

"Looks like this is our last chance to walk around the orchard without getting wet." Gene glanced between them, his gaze landing on Mai's. "I'd like to take another look around, you want to join me?"

Mai nodded. "Me too."

"Lin? John, Yasuhara-san?"

"Sounds great. I could stretch my legs," Yasuhara said.

"I'll come along," John said. "I'd like a chance to see the orchard."

"The more the merrier," Gene grinned.

"I'll come as well," Lin said. "Considering it may be our last chance."

"Is it ok to leave the base unattended?" Mai asked, but Gene shrugged.

"Nothing's going to happen, it'll be fine."

The group left the house, their steps tracing a similar path as they had that morning. Out of the corner of her eye, Mai saw Gene frown as he looked up at the sky and she followed his gaze up to the clouds. It was even darker than it had been that morning, and a cool wind had picked up hinting at the imminent arrival of the storm. "We might want to make this a quick walk. It looks like it could start raining any minute now."

"Where did you find the ring?" Lin asked, and Yasuhara nodded his head forward.

"It was this way." Yasuhara led the way. In the distance, Mai could see Makiko and Yuuto under the trees, the sister driving the tractor while the brother walked behind, loading bundles of branches into the trailer.

"Do you think the ring has anything to do with it?" Mai asked.

"I don't know," Gene said, his voice sharp and annoyed. "If only…" he stopped himself from finishing the sentence and Mai averted her gaze, knowing exactly what he had been about to say. If only Noll was here.

"Time will tell," Lin said simply.

"You're not able to see if the spirit is hanging around the ring?" Yasuhara ventured. "I mean, if you'd seen something, obviously, you'd have said so, but is this the kind of thing you've seen before…?"

Gene shook his head. "If she is tethered to the ring, I can't tell. And my ability to see spirits isn't really like that."

"A psychometrist would be better able to tell us something like that," John said to Yasuhara.

"Psychometrist?"

"Someone who has ESP when it comes to other people's belongings," John explained. "Just by touching an object they would see or know something about the person that it belonged to."

"Generally, it's thought that strong emotions or memories can be contained in an object of significance," Lin said.

"I see," Yasuhara said. "That's kind of like what people usually think when they use the word 'psychic'."

"Right," Lin agreed, glancing at Gene as if to see if he wanted to elaborate, but Gene remained silent. "Knowing things that they shouldn't otherwise be able to know."

Mai slowed her gait and let the others walk ahead of her. Yasuhara and John continued to discuss what psychometry entailed, asking questions of Lin, and Gene dropped back to walk by her side.

"It's nice to have someone else explain these things," Gene said with a wry smile. "Sometimes I forget how tired I get trying to explain everything. I'm not like Noll, I get tired of hearing my own voice."

"It's not like Naru doesn't get tired of explaining things," Mai couldn't help but giggle.

"For different reasons." Gene snorted. "He gets annoyed when people don't pick it up fast enough."

Mai nodded, glancing at him sideways. "Before lunch," she began. "What happened when you went to get the fruit from the kitchen?"

Gene nodded but didn't answer immediately, instead watching the others and making sure they were engrossed in their own conversation.

"Only confirmation that Makiko and Yuuto think the ghost is their father," Gene finally said. "Makiko, certainly one hundred percent—though to be honest, I'm not sure how much Yuuto thinks that. That it's a possibility, at the very least. But still not worth mentioning to us, apparently."

Mai frowned. "But is it really important that they think that, though? We know the spirit isn't the father. What you saw…"

"I don't know," Gene said, his voice falling a little with uncertainty. "I just get the feeling it is."

Mai felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she realised what she was saying. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I don't mean to doubt you. I guess I'm just annoyed that we've been here a day and I still don't have any idea of what's happening here."

Gene shook his head vehemently from side to side. "Not even a day, Mai," he corrected, his mouth quirking into a grin. "You're being impatient. And," his voice trailed off and he spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "I could be wrong, maybe I'm on the wrong track. I don't know what's going on here either."

Mai nodded, though her thoughts were distracted and she couldn't help but think about the last time, the time that was there but didn't actually exist, when her visions and intuition completely disappeared from her in London. The thing that hadn't disappeared, however, was her aptitude to fall into trouble—much to Naru's annoyance and displeasure. Was it inevitable that she'd lose her abilities? The thought was unsettling.

"I need to see that spirit again," Gene murmured. "Tonight, maybe…"

"You won't be able to go out in the storm, though." Mai said, puffing out her lips. "Not with the amount of rain being forecasted."

"Maybe," Gene said, but he didn't sound entirely convinced.

Mai and Gene caught up with the others, who had stopped in the area where Yasuhara had picked up the ring that morning.

"And where you saw the spirit…?" Lin asked, turning to Gene.

"I was standing over there," Gene pointed behind them, back toward the house, hoping Mai or Yasuhara wouldn't correct him when he'd actually been further away.

Lin nodded. "And it was in the orchard?"

"Yeah," Gene nodded. "Not too far from where we're standing, maybe a little that way." He pointed.

Mai realised that at some point Yuuto and Makiko had turned around and were returning toward them, driving back toward the sheds.

"All done?" Gene called when they were within earshot.

"Close enough," Yuuto said with a smile.

"You don't want to be caught out in the rain, I'd imagine," John said.

"No," Makiko said, her smile thin. "You'd better head back to the house too. It's just started to rain on the other side of the hills, it'll be here soon too."

Yuuto walked ahead and Makiko drove the tractor up to the sheds, and Mai watched with the others as Yuuto pulled open the doors, unhitching the trailer as Makiko shut the engine off and the two worked in tandem, pulling the trailer into its designated spot.

The brother and sister had just finished and closed the doors to the shed when they heard the sound of a car approaching down the gravel road, the group turning toward the sound.

"Were you expecting someone?" Gene wondered aloud, but Yuuto shook his head.

"No, I've no idea who would be coming here today…" His voice trailed off and a car rounded the curve in the road, coming up the drive toward them.

"Oh, it's Matsuda," Yuuto said, his voice dropping with obvious relief. He raised his arm over his head, waving in greeting as he approached.

"Hey, Kanegae!" A voice called from inside, a hand waving out the driver's side window. The car rolled to a stop next to them followed by the squeaky sound of a parking brake being engaged.

"Hey, Matsuda," Yuuto said, lifting a hand as he walked toward the vehicle, leaving his sister and the rest of them behind. "How're you doing?"

Mai couldn't see inside the car but a young man leaned out the window, his broad grin white against darkly tanned skin. His bleached hair stuck out in tufts underneath a bandana wrapped around his head.

"Doing good, doing good. And you, holding up alright?"

"Yeah, fine."

Matsuda's grin widened as he leaned to look around Yuuto, waving a hand. "Hey, Makiko."

Makiko lifted a hand in response. "Hi. Good to see you, Matsuda-san."

"What brings you out here?"

The man looked behind Yuuto again briefly, past Makiko to glance between them. Mai had the feeling they must look like quite an odd assembly: tall Lin, towering over the rest of them in a black suit, John with his pale blonde hair and never-diminishing smile, and Gene, Yasuhara, and herself—three teenagers in casual clothes.

"I didn't realise you had visitors," Matsuda said, smiling apologetically. "I brought someone here to see you, actually. Sorry, I didn't even think to call the house before we headed over…"

"No problem." Yuuto shook his head but smiled amiably. "Go ahead and meet us there. Mother's home, she'll make some tea, we'll meet you there in a minute."

"Want a ride?"

Yuuto shook his head. "It's only a couple minutes. Don't mind us."

Mai watched the car retreat down the road toward the house. There was someone in the passenger side that they hadn't been able to see, but something told her the visitor was brought there for the same reason they were and a strange feeling—not entirely unpleasant—began to spread across her chest. As the vehicle disappeared behind the trees she glanced sideways at Gene, who had a thoughtful look on his face.

"What is it?" Yasuhara asked him, but Gene shook his head.

"Nothing," Gene said. He seemed to snap to attention, smiling at Makiko and Yuuto. "We'll be heading back to our base and will be out of your way, Kanegae-san."

"Actually," Yuuto began slowly, hesitatingly. "I'd rather you didn't. I think it would be better if you stayed." He exhaled heavily, a small, tired smile lifting his lips. "I wouldn't say Matsuda's one of the few people who knows about our concerns. Probably the whole village knows, to be honest. But he's one of the few who I've actually spoken to about it, and he's only brought his visitor because he thinks they can help. That's what I reckon, anyway."

"We'd be more than happy to meet Matsuda-san and the person he's brought with him," Lin said, tipping his head. "If it is a private matter, please don't hesitate to ask us to leave."

"I understand." Yuuto smiled, relieved.

Mai met Gene's gaze again. He had a strange, pleased-looking smile on his lips, and gave her a slight nod in return, knowing then that he had the same suspicions she had.

"Do you mind if I ask about Matsuda?" Lin continued as they walked. "How do you know him?"

"We've known each other since we were kids. Our families go way back, actually. Our mothers were friends when they were in school. Now, the family runs an inn on the mainland. Not a traditional inn—more of a guesthouse. In the few occasions we've been fully booked, we'll recommend any inquiries to their guesthouse, and they do the same for us. Well…" Yuuto's face twisted in a bitter smile. "Not anymore. Not since this all started."

As they walked, the house came into view as they rounded the trees and Mai saw that the car was parked next to SPR's van. There was a woman standing on the veranda between Matsuda and Kimiko. Her back was turned toward them but Mai felt her heart lurch in her chest when she saw the reddish sheen of the woman's dark hair. It couldn't be, she thought in disbelief.

But it had to be. It couldn't be anyone else.

Kimiko beckoned them over with a smile, the woman turning as they approached so that Mai could see her clearly. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Matsuzaki Ayako-san."

Even though she'd already known, Mai started when she saw her. Ayako looked exactly as she remembered her. The dark purple jacket and magenta silk scarf over a slim-fitting dress, the leopard print handbag and too-tall heels sitting neatly next to all the others' shoes on the steps.

Ayako. Ayako. Mai's head began to spin. As happy as she was see her again, only one coherent thought came to mind.

What was she doing here?


A/N:

And Ayako has finally entered the story! Welcome *clap clap* I've been waiting for this moment for years it feels like (even if she's here only barely, sorry to leave it there with just a teaser!)

I have borrowed the idea of the uro passageway from Mushishi (with a few liberties taken.) From what I've seen from English sources, it is written in katakana ウロ, but interestingly my kanji dictionary gives two readings/meanings for uro, 虚 = hollow, cavity, and 迂路 = detour, diversion. Although if the pitch accent is different, I suppose it's not a true homonym? I find this kind of thing very interesting (and a little too convenient tbh) And. I love Mushishi, what can I say—it is a vibe. I've always had in the back of my mind that I'd like to write a gh/Mushishi crossover, but have never had the right inspiration (not to mention way too many wips.)

Speaking of work in progress, sorry for the delay in this chapter. As per usual it sat stuck at 85% done while I had some stuff going on and didn't really have the brain power for the final missing pieces. Tbh I'm not totally satisfied with a few parts of it, but. Gotta keep things moving along, for better or worse.

Thank you for reading! It means a lot to me to be able to share this with the hope that someone else might enjoy it too. Hope you are safe and healthy and keeping well this time of year.

~abbq